Enterprise Architecture and IT Service Management

lecturer:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Karcher

tutorial instructor:

Dr. rer. nat. Peter Hillmann

Erik Heiland M.Sc

content:

The concept of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has for some time been an important cornerstone for the design and adaptation of complex IT landscapes to the continuously changing requirements of the business process environment of a company or organization. The aim is to map requirements from business processes in a structured, purposeful and as effective and efficient way as possible on the basic services of an underlying IT service layer. Furthermore, making these available to the application level, for example in the form of cloud-based services across locations and technologies, is another fundamental task. Increasing importance is bestowed on frameworks that form a basis for the description of the architecture components typical for a company type or an application area and connections between the "BuildingBlocks" (Enterprise Architecture Frameworks).

The module introduces the topic of architecture-based design of complex IT landscapes. In the first part, the evolution and the main basic idea of enterprise frameworks will be presented and discussed using introductory examples. An overview of corresponding standards will be given. Individual aspects of the application of Enterprise Architecture will then be examined in detail using case studies based on selected standards such as The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF).

The second part of the module focuses on the management of complex IT landscapes based on service-oriented architecture. On the one hand, IT Service Management as an umbrella term for all approaches and methods to support the mapping of business processes to IT basic services provides an important base of today's IT governance. On the other hand, this paradigm presents companies and users with the challenge of mapping business processes to IT building blocks and standard application systems continuously, systematically and as optimally as possible – also known as business-IT alignment. Here, standards and frameworks – above all the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) – play a central role. In addition to anchoring the fundamental concepts and methods of IT Service Management, the application of frameworks mirrored in practical examples will be the focus of this module.

The module will be complemented by experts from different application areas providing deeper insights into the current state of the art.

Qualification goals:

The "governability” of complex IT landscapes (IT governance) is becoming an increasingly central strategic competitive factor for companies, organizations and not least armies such as the German Bundeswehr. Enterprise Architecture & IT Service Management form the two central pillars for mastering this complex task. The module will initially enable the participants to classify the still relatively young field of research in its current state and its significance for the design of complex IT landscapes. The module’s specialization part enlarges upon dominant standards in setup, structure and domain reference and imparts basic knowledge of their application. On the basis of specific case studies and discussions with external experts, the participants also gain the necessary knowledge to apply and transfer the methods and approaches into domain contexts.

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